Through the Looking Glass
In the Mirror universe ' |image= |series= |production= 40513-466 |producer(s)= |story= |script= Ira Steven Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe |director=Winrich Kolbe |imdbref=tt0708650 |guests=Felecia M. Bell as Jennifer Sisko, Andrew J. Robinson as Garak, Tim Russ as Tuvok and Max Grodénchik as Rom |previous_production=Improbable Cause |next_production=The Die is Cast |episode=DS9 S03E19 |airdate=17 April 1995 |previous_release=Distant Voices |next_release=(DS9) Improbable Cause (Overall) Heroes and Demons |story_date(s)=Unknown (2371) |previous_story=Distant Voices |next_story=(DS9) Improbable Cause (Overall) Heroes and Demons }} Summary Sisko is abducted by a double of O'Brien, who takes him to the mirror universe that Kira and Bashir visited a year ago. This O'Brien explains that Sisko's counterpart, the leader of the Terran rebellion against the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance, has been killed. O'Brien wants Sisko to pose as his dead double and convince a Terran scientist with the Alliance to join the rebels. That scientist is Jennifer Sisko, the counterpart of Sisko's late wife. Since she is building a device that will betray the secret location of the rebels, Sisko must convince her to join them before she completes her work or the rebels will have to kill her. Unwilling to watch Jennifer die again, Sisko agrees to intervene. He meets the rebel counterparts of Bashir, Rom, Tuvok from the starship Voyager, and also Dax, who is Sisko's mistress in this universe. Only O'Brien knows that Sisko is an impostor. Terok Nor, the mirror Deep Space Nine, is ruled by Kira for the Alliance. She tells Jennifer that the bloodshed against the Terrans will end once her device is completed. But later, Kira tortures Terran slaves in the ore processing center with the help of Garak, her chief aide. Then, Kira discovers that Sisko is still alive. With communicators hidden under their skin, Sisko and O'Brien take a rebel ship to Terok Nor. They are immediately captured and taken to Kira, who sends O'Brien to ore processing with the slaves and takes Sisko to her quarters. Later, Sisko meets Jennifer, who despises him, and without revealing his true identity, apologizes for his past treatment of her, then says that he has come to rescue her. Sisko tries to convince Jennifer that the Alliance is her real enemy, and plans to kill the rebels once they are found. Sensing he may be winning her confidence, Sisko signals O'Brien. In ore processing, O'Brien receives the signal and causes a malfunction that allows him and the Terrans to escape. Meanwhile, Jennifer agrees to leave with Sisko, they meet O'Brien, then head for a waiting ship. Before they can escape, however, they are cornered by Kira and her troops. While Kira wAlts for Sisko to surrender, he slips away and herds his entire group into the ore processing center, where they seal themselves within. When Kira, Garak, and her soldiers finally force their way in, Sisko calmly tells her that he has activated the station's self-destruct sequence, which only he can stop. Kira reluctantly agrees to let Sisko, Jennifer, O'Brien, and the Terrans go free in order to halt the imminent destruction. Sisko and the others return to the rebel encampment, where Jennifer admits to realizing that he's not really her husband. She kisses him goodbye, and Sisko returns to his universe just a bit sadder. Errors and Explanations Plot Oversights # After transporting Sisko off the station, Alt-O'Brien materializes with his captive on a ship sitting in space— apparently quite close to the relative position of our DS9 in the alternate universe. How did Alt-O'Brien know where to position his ship? You might recall from Crossover that Terok Nor orbits Bajor in the alternate reality. In our reality, DS9 sits near the worm- hole. (During Emissary the crew moved DS9 160 million kilometers, so that Bajor could lay claim to the worm-hole.) You also might recall that during Crossover Kira and Bashir discovered that the people in the alternate universe didn't know about the wormhole, and they quickly concluded that it should remain a secret. So it seems highly unlikely that Bashir would casually mention to Alt-O'Brien that the station doesn't orbit Bajor in our reality. Such an admission would surely raise the question "Why?"— forcing Bashir to lie, since he wouldn't want to say that it's out in space because it sits near the wormhole. In other words, Alt-O'Brien should think that the station in our reality orbits Bajor. This is a problem. Even if he could get his vessel close enough to the alternate reality's Terok Nor to transport, when he beamed into our reality expecting to find a station in orbit around Bajor, he would materialize in open space! Maybe he was able to work all that out before he transported to the prime reality. # After arriving in the alternate universe, Sisko easily disarms Alt-O'Brien. There were plenty of opportunities to do this before transporting to the alternate universe, and one might wonder why Sisko didn't do this sooner. Of course, if he had, it would have been a short show! He was waiting for Alt-O’Brien to relax by completing the transport to the alternate universe. # During this episode there's a woman in the alternate universe who looks just like our Jadzia Dax. Granted she doesn't act like our Dax, but Sisko does address her as "Dax," and everyone seems to think that is her name. One question: Is the lovely, little Trill Symbiosis Commission in business in this alternate reality? Or did Alt-Jazdia kill someone to get the Dax symbiont? Is that why she's here with the Terran rebels? Is she hiding from the law? For all we know, she could be an unjoined Trill who happens to have the name Dax! # After capturing Sisko, Alt-Kira has him taken to her quarters. She then leaves to consider what she will do with him. The next time we see Sisko, Garak has brought Jennifer to visit with him. Sisko asked to see her, and somebody decided it would be okay. Who in the "worlds" decided that this was a good idea?! Sisko is the leader of the Terran rebellion. Jennifer is working on a new type of sensor that will reveal the presence of the rebel hiding places in the Badlands. This is the key to annihilating the rebellion. What possible good could come from allowing Sisko to meet with her? Answer: none! Perhaps they though putting the pair in the same room would result in Sisko letting slip vital info about the rebellion. # At the end of the episode Sisko walks in to find Alt-Dax and Jennifer "getting along." Somehow, I don't think so. Jennifer developed a well-defined hatred for her husband because he was always chasing after other women. Now that she meets one of those other women she "gets along with her? Dax probably expressed a heartfelt apology for her and Sisko’s behaviour. # I realize that I may not measure up to the brave and valiant standards of Starfleet officers. But if my wife died and I travelled to an alternate universe and found her alive and rescued her, would bring her home with me! Sisko knows that could result in more harm than good – Alt-Jeniffer’s skills are needed by the rebellion. # I wonder how long it's going to be before Alt-Kira, the Alt-Cardassians, and the Alt-Klingons get tired of our intrusion into their reality and decide to stage a little intrusion of their own. SPOILER ALERT! About two and a half years – the mirror universe version of Bareil transports over, in order to steal an Orb for the Intendant, in Resurrection. Equipment Oddities # Just before beaming down to meet the rebels, Sisko rides on a turbolift aboard Alt-O'Brien's ship. If the lights in the background aren't decoy information, the turbolift appears to travel six or seven decks during their conversation. It sure doesn't seem like Alt-O'Brien's vessel has seven decks from the external shot we see. Three, maybe four, but not seven. Maybe each light represents half a deck? Continuity And Production Problems # Twice in this episode Alt-O'Brien and Sisko use the transporter on Sisko's ship. Both times, reflecting on the panels in the background, there is a horizontal band of light that looks funny as the transport progresses. It seems to be in front of the pair instead of behind them as they fade away. Could be a partly visible confinement field. # Toward the end of the episode Alt-Kira and her forces have a corridor phaser fight with Sisko and company. At one point Alt-Kira's forces pour into a hallway junction and form a wall of phasers and disrupters, with several Bajorans kneeling on the front row. Alt-Kira, Alt-Garak, and several other Security personnel line the back. After Sisko and company sneak off to the ore processing center, Garak yells, "Pursue!" Watch the male Bajoran on the front row as he stands. He hops up and then hops twice to his left before moving forward. (l assume he's trying to get around the camera set- up, but it really looks funny!) Perhaps there is something on the floor that he doesn’t want to trip over. Nit Central # Keith Alan Morgan on Saturday, May 08, 1999 - 7:58 am: They make a big deal about stopping Professor Sisko from finishing the transspectral sensor array, but wouldn't such an important project have many people involved? She could be the only available person with sufficient expertise to make the array work. # Wouldn't this project have been run by some kind of Alliance board to determine if this project was worth the money and resources it would take to build it? They were probably the ones who instigated the development, as it would be the best way to hunt down members of the Rebellion. # Boy, those Klingons outside of Sisko's room are terrible guards. They stand facing the other side of the corridor, and when the door opens, Sisko jumps them and defeats them. I guess being a great warrior isn't that big a deal for a Klingon in this universe. Mike on Sunday, March 04, 2001 - 1:04 am: KAM, they are just the ubiquitous incompetent guards. All the baddies in all the universes hire the same two guys. "Whats this ring thingy Mr. Crichton?" "Gee, Bob, lets stand across the hall and nod off!" "Gee, Xil, lets stand across the hall and nod off!"' ''' # The Cardassians are shooting at Sisko and Jennifer and behind Sisko's head is a big old porthole. One good shot and Sisko ceases to be a threat to the Alliance. ''dotter31 on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 8:15 pm:'' I gather this is meaning to suggest that they should have broken the porthole and decompressed that corridor, venting its contents into space. Wouldn't this have killed the Cardassians as well? They don't seem like the type to sacrifice themselves for such a cause.' # Sisko & company find Rom dead, then Alliance troops show up to stop them, but Sisko and company run off down a hallway to ore processing. Hold it, hold it! They run down a hallway? Why didn't the Alliance forces block off all the hallways to prevent this from happening? '''There may not have been enough guards available for that.' # Earlier it is explained that Jennifer was one of the lucky Terran families. Since she has now joined the rebels, isn't she afraid of what might happen to her family? Perhaps she is estranged from them as well as her husband. # Why would a Bajoran/Cardassian/Klingon station have an access code with the word Alpha in it? Or was the Universal Translator changing it for us viewers? Stuart on Tuesday, May 29, 2001 - 5:23 pm: Regarding the use of the alliance using the terran word alpha. Many conquering nations adopt some of the language of their subjects. (I believe the yo yo was a term picked up in the colonising era, but I’m not 100% sure). # Why does the Intendant believe that Sisko will keep his word about sending the code to stop the self-destruct when she lets the rebels go? She thinks she is dealing with her Sisko and he didn't strike me as a very honorable man. Maybe she began to figure out that the Sisko she was dealing with here was a Starfleet officer from the other reality. # Why did the rebels allow Sisko to send the right code? Smiley could have bopped Sisko on the head and let Terek Nor, the Intendant and varied and sundry Alliance flunkies go kaboomie. Major victory for the rebels. Allowing Terek Nor to be destroyed would lead to instant retaliation from the rest of the Klingon/Cardassian Alliance. # John A. Lang on Sunday, November 02, 2003 - 4:51 pm: How come NOBODY from our universe made any attempt to rescue Sisko from the mirror universe? I mean, can't OUR O'Brien come up with some thing-a-ma-jig to transport to the mirror universe too? dotter31 on Friday, April 20, 2007 - 8:15 pm: Who says they didn't? In Shattered Mirror Sisko attempted to bring Kira and O'Brien with him, and they were blocked. Perhaps the Rebels can somehow block rescue attempts. # Amadeus Mirror on Friday, September 08, 2006 - 5:00 pm: Maybe I need it to watch again more closely, but it seems like whenever the Terrans in this episode hit someone, they palm them. Have "closed fist" punches become taboo? Polls Voice on Friday, September 08, 2006 - 5:41 pm: Fist punches can damage the knuckles more due to the proxmity of the bone to the skn, where as open palm hits have a level of padding due to the muscle tissue. Also, in martial arts fighting, by open palming someone, it allows for other manipulation to exist. Say if you are starting to hit someone and you need to alter your attack and grab someone or deflect a blow and end up in a position to grab a hold of the other person. Category:Episodes Category:Deep Space Nine